Will Hardy Speaks Out on Jazz's Tumultuous Season
For a team with a 36-44 record, the Utah Jazz's season has been quite remarkable. Following an offseason that shook the team to its foundations, the Jazz entered the 2022-23 season with a new head coach and a highly turned-over roster.
And yet, Utah became the story of the early NBA season with its hot start. Multiple players emerged, including All-Star Lauri Markkanen and rookie center Walker Kessler, while the tumult continued.
The Jazz dealt away multiple key veterans at the trade deadline, including Mike Conley and Malik Beasley, and since the All-Star break, all manner of roster shenanigans and injury misfortune have plagued the team.
Still, give head coach Will Hardy credit for how he's kept his team bought-in and fighting to the finish line in the face of it all. Following Utah's 114-108 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night, Hardy ruminated on his takeaways from this up-and-down season.
“It’ll separate the people who only look at numbers and the people that actually watch," Hardy said. "On paper, this game does not look very good and on paper, the season–you know, 36-44–doesn’t look very great. But anybody that’s actually paid attention and watched the team play watched how they play, how they compete, the way that they’ve done it together, the way that they’ve dealt with changes and lineup changes and guys being in and out and trades at the deadline and a new coach. You know, the way that they’ve handled all of that and represented themselves and this organization and this community is really special."
Well said. And even though the Jazz aren't going to be competing in the postseason for the first time in many moons, this season is not likely to be relegated to the dustbin of history. Hardy has led his team through the refiner's fire, and the fashioning that has taken shape could become a razor-sharp tool in the not-too-distant future. There's no telling what the limits of Utah's potential could be in the wake of this season replete with adversity.
The Jazz players and coaches never gave up the ghost. Nobody on the court each night opted to curl up and die. And it would have been easy to do that, and embrace the tank with an eye toward maximizing Utah's lottery position.
Hats off to Hardy and all the players. While the future is uncertain with a few key players, including Jordan Clarkson and Talen Horton-Tucker, the Jazz have learned a lot about themselves, how to play with each other, and provided fans with a season few could have expected on the heels of Quin Snyder's resignation, and the Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert trades.
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